Humane group after animal care amendment

COLUMBUS -- The state attorney general's office is reviewing petition language for a proposed constitutional amendment animal welfare advocates hope to place before voters in November.

The Humane Society of the United States and other groups are working in concert as Ohioans for Humane Farms.

They hope to force the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, OK'd by voters in November, to implement specified animal care standards, including rules on confinement and animal slaughter.

"We wouldn't cram our pets into cages barely larger than their bodies for their entire lives, and we shouldn't subject farm animals to this inhumane and unacceptable confinement either," Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a released statement. "All animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food."

Last week, the group submitted its petition language and 1,000 signatures to the state Attorney General's Office, which has until the end of this week to decide whether the statements are fair and truthful. Afterward, the Ohio Ballot Board will meet to ensure the petition includes a single constitutional amendment.

Backers can begin collecting signatures thereafter. They would need upward of 400,000 valid signatures to place the issue on the November ballot.

The constitutional amendment would:

-- "Prohibit a farm owner or operator from tethering or confining any calf raised for veal, pig during pregnancy or egg-laying hen on a farm for all or the majority of a day in a manner that prevents such animal from lying down, standing up, fully extending his or her limbs or turning around freely."

-- "Require that the killing of cows and pigs on farms be performed in a humane manner."

-- "Prohibit the killing of cows and pigs on farms by strangulation as a form of euthanasia."

-- "Prohibit the transport, sale or receipt for use in the human food supply of any cow or calf too sick or injured to stand and walk."

Farmers and others found guilty of not meeting the standards would face criminal penalties, including a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board would have six years to implement the standards.

Marc Kovac is the Dix Capital Bureau Chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at Ohio Capital Blog.